Expired Medications and Improper Medication Storage
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to store medications and biologicals within their expiration dates and did not ensure safe medication storage practices. During an inspection of the medication storage room on the Memory Care Unit, expired items were found, including 28 Vacutainer blood collection tubes, 15 ESwab collection and transport sampling tubes, and 2 Micro-Kill Bleach Germicidal Bleach Wipes. The Unit Manager confirmed that these items were expired at the time of observation. Additionally, a resident with mild cognitive impairment and multiple diagnoses, including diabetes mellitus type II, COPD, edema, chronic pain syndrome, and a lumbar vertebrae fracture, was found to have two white tablets left at their bedside. The tablets were identified as Torsemide 20 mg, which the resident was prescribed to take by mouth twice daily and three tablets every night. An RN confirmed that the medication was left at the bedside and acknowledged that it should not have been, stating that she thought the resident had taken them after she left the room.